another delegate, hannah tellier, said she couldn’t afford to rely on an unreliable lrt.
“when the lrt isn’t running and i couldn’t afford to be late for work, i’d have to take a taxi or an uber to work, which frankly, i can’t afford,” tellier said. “when it comes to transit, we shouldn’t settle for good enough.”
another resident worried that changes to the no. 35 bus would make it even more difficult than it is now to go to the hospital where he cares for his aged and ailing mother.
once the delegations were done, it was the councillors’ turn. barrhaven west coun. david hill worried that commuters caught in this week’s crush of public servants heading back to the office three days a week would be discouraged if they couldn’t get on “packed to the gills” express buses heading downtown from fallowfield.
“that will kill any form of transit ridership or trust in the system from transit riders in barrhaven,” hill said.
he told the story of one resident whose ride home took so long that he exceeded the 90-minute allowance for transfers.
“the pleasure they got from their almost two-hour trip home ended up costing them twice as much money as a normal fare,” he said.
(if this does happen, transit staff said riders should call customer service, which can arrange a refund.)
a 2023 file photo of an oc transpo bus. transpo is facing a $25-million operating deficit this year, primarily due to the loss of ridership since the start of the covid-19 pandemic.
jean levac
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postmedia